Legal Context
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Child Marriage in Kosovo (UNSC 1244) (Summary) We had no choice. My family and my uncle’s family lived in a very small house. We had to leave the house as soon as we could because we had no space. So my father arranged a In Kosovo (UNSC 1244) marriage for me. —Child spouse today, child marriage Legal context is relatively rare, but it Although Kosovo1 is not a member of the United Nations or the Council of Europe, several international mechanisms, laws, and regulations are applicable. The Universal Declaration of continues to be practised Human Rights, included in Kosovo’s Constitution, recognizes the right to consent to marriage. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of among certain communities All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) are also in the Constitution. NGO representatives interviewed for this research observed that laws protecting children’s rights are poorly and/or ethnic groups, most implemented in practice, and that there are few state resources available for services to protect children and promote their interests. Under the Family Law of Kosovo, a child is a person under age 18. notably, but not exclusively, It is unclear whether an adolescent under 18 who marries attains legal capacity. Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Marriages can only take place with the full and free consent of both parties, and both would-be spouses must be over 18. However, courts may allow a minor over the age of 16 to marry if the person and Gorani. has reached the ‘necessary physical and psychological maturity’ for exercising marital rights and fulfilling marital obligations. The Family Law regulates against forced marriage by coercion, threat, mistake, or ‘any other lack of free will of the future spouses’. Forced marriage is punishable by imprisonment under the Criminal Code, and committing this offence against a child involves steeper sentences. Parents or guardians also face imprisonment for allowing children to cohabitate with adults, as do adults cohabiting with minors aged 14 to 16. Material gain resulting from child or forced marriage (e.g. payment of dowries) can also be prosecuted as a criminal offence. Family planning and reproductive rights According to the Law on Health, all citizens must have access to healthcare, and compulsory basic health insurance should be provided. Teenagers and young people, as well as ‘marginalised persons’, are identified as special categories, for whom the Ministry of Health should provide access to sexual and reproductive health. Individuals and couples have the legal right to access information about family planning, and to access and use contraception. 1 Throughout this document, we will hereafter use the descriptive ‘Kosovo’ for Kosovo under UNSC 1244. 2 Persons under 18 must be accompanied by an Security in Kosovo has improved since 1999, and authorised representative to receive health care. according to official figures, people now tend to Since it is not stated explicitly that children become marry later than they did before the war. However, adults upon marriage, parents, guardians, or Centres couples do not always register their marriage for Social Work (CSW) representatives may need to immediately, waiting until they are expecting a child be present, impacting on the right of child spouses or plan to travel abroad to register their marriage to access reproductive health services. Interviews with the authorities. Immediate registration is suggest that some young couples’ parents may particularly rare in child marriages. become involved in their reproductive choices. Altogether the 108 officially registered child By law, all individuals are ‘guaranteed’ the ‘right marriages in 2010 accounted for 0.59 per cent of to information and education for sexual and all marriages, and only involved 16- and 17-year-old reproductive health’, but how this should be girls. No cases of child marriage among boys were implemented is unclear. In grade seven (age 12), registered; however, four cases of child marriage children learn about puberty and menstruation, but involving boys aged 14 to 16 were identified little more. Some of the child spouses interviewed during this study. Girls in child marriages tended reported knowing nothing or very little about to be between five and ten years younger than their contraception when they married. spouses. The 2009 Demographic and Household Survey Child marriages thus continue to occur in Kosovo, found that among women aged 15 to 19, more particularly among Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, and than 93 per cent could name one method of Gorani ethnic groups, though they occur among contraception, and 88.8 per cent knew of at least other ethnic groups as well, particularly in rural one modern method. Married women tended to areas where traditional influences may be stronger. know more than single women. The child spouses interviewed observed that early marriage was prevalent in their families and communities. Child marriages in Kosovo Nowadays, reasons cited for early marriage include Although statistical data is unavailable, in the past, it love, family pressure, security, socioeconomic appears that child marriage was fairly widespread in conditions, unplanned pregnancy, peer pressure, Kosovo. Right through to the late 20th century, there and tradition. were various political, social, and economic reasons The payment of dowries (‘çeyiz’) no longer appears to to marry early: to enable emigration to escape be practised among the Albanian majority. However, economic and political turmoil; to lessen the strain the practice of ‘baba hak’, where the groom’s father on parents’ finances (particularly for girls living in pays the bride’s father, remains common among larger households); to ensure economic and physical Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians. Respondents detailed security and ‘protection’ from sexual violence; to cases of dowries ranging from €40 to €4,000. Some avoid the dishonour of pregnancy out of wedlock; child spouses interviewed said their recent marriages and because life-spans were shorter. In some involved dowries. rural areas and among some Roma, Ashkali, and Balkan Egyptians (hereafter, ‘Egyptians’, girls were When the authorities investigate suspected cases of considered ready for marriage following puberty, at child marriage, community leaders may intervene age 13 to 15. to negotiate between police and parents. Sometimes authorities choose not to become involved, believing Anecdotal information suggests that child marriage it should be up to the family and spouses to decide, increased during the 1990s, especially during the or not wishing to interfere with ‘tradition’. war in 1999. Parents believed early marriage could protect their daughters. Young women who were The consequences of child marriage can include left as heads of households hoped marriage would domestic violence (including isolation from enable them to provide for their siblings. Other friends and family), divorce, unplanned pregnancy, young women wanted to ensure that they could complications in pregnancy, discontinuation of remain with their boyfriends who were emigrating. education, and lack of access to employment Child Marriage in Kosovo (UNSC 1244) (Summary) 3 opportunities. Girl child spouses are often Responses to child marriage economically dependent on their husband’s family. This can place them in an even weaker position and Government efforts. The Gender Adviser at the can be a sign of other forms of domestic violence. Ministry of Local Government Administration Many of the child spouses who were interviewed published pamphlets on child marriage, and the reported suffering domestic violence ‘several Agency for Gender Equality (AGE) in the Prime times’. Child marriages arranged for the purpose of Minister’s Office and UNFPA financed a film emigration can place child spouses at particular risk produced by the Network of Roma, Ashkali, and of isolation and domestic violence, in a new society Egyptian Women’s Organisations (RROGRAEK) where they have no support network, and do not in 2012 on child marriages. RROGRAEK screened speak the language. the film on Radio Television Kosova, as well as in various communities, followed by discussions. The Youth Assembly has organized awareness- Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians raising events for secondary-school students and Anecdotal evidence suggests that child marriage their parents about child marriage. remains prevalent among Roma, Ashkali, and Supporting education. The Balkan Sunflowers, Egyptians, with some marrying as young as 12. In an NGO working in various Roma, Ashkali, and a 2008 survey of 270 Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian Egyptian communities, encourages children to women, one-third believed early marriage could continue their education. Via debates they foster facilitate healthy childbirth, and 60 per cent felt critical thinking about traditional practices, while parents should decide who their daughters marry. their Learning Centres in ten municipalities have NGO representatives agreed that education would preschool, language, education, and women’s provide opportunities beyond marriage and better programmes that seek to shift gender norms and information about rights. Further, if young people target the causes of child marriage. A recent survey remain in school they may be less likely to marry. suggests that their mediators have contributed to The authorities did not do enough to encourage increased enrolment and educational attainment in education, respondents felt. targeted communities.